LIONHAIRS

Hot chocolate and leather straps forever

2012-01-28T15:48:00.000-08:00

There has been a lot of hot chocolate and marshmallows this week. I find it is super studying elixir. Win. I have a "shit-ton" of reading to do not to mention memorizing the officials for the governing elements of the body (for acupuncture school). It's really fascinating and I enjoy it a lot and there is a lot of it... Well, every one needs breaks. I consider myself quiet a fan of reading but one can only read so much for so long before you stop actually retaining what you are reading.

My hair is also finally a length I feel comfortable throwing headbands in it too so those are no longer sitting idly by on my dresser top. Plus kick as favorite leather and suede buckle strap heeled ankle boots, plus favorite (self) hand knit sweater.

Well I think I am going to give myself a break today and watch a movie or something, maybe. Whatever I feel like I will go with I guess.

Also, I like the Dum Dum Girls. Here is their official video for "Bedroom eyes"

P.S. What a creeper smile I have. Figures!

Winter Weather

2012-01-26T16:33:00.000-08:00

It's been a little bit colder here lately. Overall I would say it's been a mild winter. Personally I really like cold, snowy winters but you get what you get.

I've had very little time to do any actual knitting lately since I am either at work, at school or doing homework! But I have neglected to post some things I have finished. I am really into knitting loop scarves a.k.a. "cowls". Super comfy, convenient and warm!

School/Work/Everything

2012-01-18T08:28:00.000-08:00

Things have been busy for me, acupuncture school started and it is AWESOME! I am also back to work and there is of course homework as well as everything else that was there before all this started. I am about to go to work so here is a list of things I will be mentioning soon:

+ Izznit sent me a really neat little pouch! I love it, thank you! <3
+ I'll be writing a free pattern for the hat pictured above soon. I will also need test knitters so if anyone wants to please send me a message on my Ravelry (powerpaw) or comment here!
+ ACUPUNCTURE SCHOOL. (all my books are almost here in the mail now!)

And because I like Japanese pop music, here is a video of a song I am currently into.

"Stitch Sampler Cowl" for Emily

2012-01-06T20:35:00.000-08:00

And another one bites the dust. I finished Emily's late Christmas gift cowl. Woo! It's 14 inches thick and can be wrapped around twice to make a nice cozy thick neck warming cowl shape. I really like the way it turned out, and since I got bored doing one stitch pattern for the whole thing, I totally just sampled chunks of different stitches to give it more visual interest.

Life is change, life is moving.

2012-01-05T19:14:00.000-08:00

Acupuncture school has started. I'm still in the midst of orientation but it's so surreal to think that I am on my way to my masters in something. I'm waiting for most of my text books to come in the mail and I feel like I have so much to do before the real intense work starts to buckle down. I'm trying to work everything out, I guess what is meant to be finished will be finished. It's been really cold lately but I have been trying to get as much time outside as possible. I like the cold weather.

That cutie holding my head phone chords in check is from Mochikaka. It's been super useful in keeping everything from getting all knotted up and my temper down. And of course, a quick, simple and gratifying mug cozy is always a good instant done knitting project. I also gave one to a class mate since she had a glass tea tumbler and it kept burning her fingers.

Speaking of knitting, my stash is super small now but I have a lot of things on the needles and a serious case of more startitus. For those that don't know what that is, it's basically when you just want to start a 1,000,001 projects and not finish the ones you have already started. Dang. Well here is what needs done:

- The cabled baret I am making a pattern up for Zachariah's Tutu
- lined fair isle Fiddle Head mittens
- barn raising sock yarn quilt
- Emily's stitch sampler cowl
- Fair isle patterned pillow case
- Dad's Christmas sweater vest

Well, it's a lot but I think I can get it done soon. I only listed the things I have already started and need to finish. I'm not even thinking about the stuff that hasn't been started that needs done too. The new version of "True Grit" is on netflix on instant so I think I am going to watch that till I fall asleep. I love westerns.

January 2nd 2012

2012-01-02T11:45:00.000-08:00

Well, 2012 has been pretty A-O.K. so far I guess. Today is really cloudy and cold out so Davey and I have been moving really slow. I made a Descendents radio on Pandora and it's been keeping me moving. I finally got dressed and it's almost 3PM! Ah well, that's what breaks are for right? There isn't anything else pressing that needs done other then late Christmas knitting and to-be-done birthday knitting.

Also, tomorrow is my first day of Acupuncture school. I hope everything works out because I still have to get my loans situation in check. And my books... Ahh well, here's to thinking positively! It will all work out. (hopefully)

Although all the gifts I got this Christmas were completely amazing (Jessica I am looking at you :) ) I would like to remark upon the TRIFORCE earrings that Zachariah got me. I LOVE THE ZELDA GAME SERIES. LOVE IT. So this was super amazing, just saying. <3

Davey is a cute cute

2011-12-30T11:10:00.000-08:00

A few things that are great about the Davey:

+ He functions better then a space heater however you have to be able to endure a 45 pound dog-pillow on your legs/lap
+ When you tie bandannas and sweat-shirts around his neck and torso he never fights to take them off, is excited to have them put on and always looks quite depressed when you remove them.
+ Davey loves bananas. He hears that peel being ripped from any distance, then runs to politely wait for his piece. I love bananas too Davey, I understand.

New Year Ultra-Declutter!

2011-12-30T11:02:00.000-08:00

Hello blog; yes, it is that time again for my annual existential fight against the urge to getting rid of everything I own versus just doing a mild but useful de-cluttering of everything in the apartment.

I normally am the sort of person to go through the things that I have about once a month, in intervals and get rid of anything superfluous that resides in my possession. I like big empty spaces, I like things clean, I like things out of the way and I like things organized. Almost to the point where it gets mildly crazy. When I was much younger, (I'm talking like 10 or so) I noticed that I would take from guests what they removed from shelves and then immediately put it back where it belonged. I would also throw away things that I owned on a regular basis and moved all the furniture in my room around on a regular basis. I can to the conclusion that this was probably not the best behavior to exhibit so I began to force myself to leave one or two items of clothing on the floor to "cover" for my overly clean bedroom. Since then I have battled with the need to keep things really really really organized...

Anyway, I have a list of things to go through and so far I have done a bit of it but there still remains much to be covered. And of course, since I live with another person, I can't just go throwing away and donating most everything we own without his vote.

- ~~Switch out dark bedroom curtains with the bright ones~~
- ~~Reorganize and sort through all shelves~~
- ~~Move shelf out of bedroom and rearrange living room shelves.~~
- ~~Check for expired medicines in bathroom~~
- ~~Go through make-up and other toiletries and remove anything old/gross~~
- Clean out excessive kitchen supplies, utensils, gadgets
- Go through clothing and remove anything not worn, falling apart
- Get Zachariah to go through clothes and ~~junk on dresser~~
- ~~Organize and sort through hallway and above closet storage stuff~~
- ~~Organize and sort through under bed storage~~
- ~~Vacuum carpe~~t
- ~~Laundry~~
- ~~Do dishes~~
- Drop off books for donation

And I guess it goes without saying Zachariah helps with all the cleaning stuff too. And it is nice to have someone else around to help incase I run into any other surprise fish hooks.

Collar Necklaces Continued!

2011-12-21T18:25:00.000-08:00

Since posting these guys on my Etsy I have been getting a little bit of traffic about them. I'm really happy with them and have sold a few and given a few away for other purposes too. It's been a busy month of knitting, crafting and mailing all sorts of things.

I am just about finished with all my Christmas knitting that has to be finished for Christmas. I am down to the last pair of socks. After the holiday though I will have to finish a sweater vest, two hats and a cowl or two.

But it hasn't all been work; My friend Melodi and I took our friend April out to see the Moscow Ballet Company preform the Nutcracker at the Lyric Opera House here in Baltimore. It was a very pretty production and I think we are going to try to make a tradition of it since we all used to go with our respective families every holiday season to see it when we were growing up. (Or at least I did.) It was really interesting too because it was a completely different version then I was used to seeing. Still awesome though!

And last but not least, the gratuitous cute Davey photos, because this cute just doesn't quit. <3

New favorite cowl pattern

2011-12-17T12:45:00.000-08:00

This cowl was a super quick knit up and I absolutely love it. I completely needed some selfish knitting in between the Christmas knitting I have been pounding out so I made this guy in a few hours from some really lovely bulky wool that I got at my LYS(local yarn shop: Lovelyarns). The pattern is from Quince & Co. called State Street Cowl. I love all their patterns.

Studded collar necklaces

2011-12-09T10:06:00.001-08:00

I have been really into the the collar necklace/statement necklace trend for a little bit now but most options look really uncomfortable (because they are solid metal), are permanently affixed to your collared shirts, or are way out of my price range. As a result I have been experimenting with ways to make my own. I think I have finally come to some sort of decision on what is best. Soft felt is way better then starched felt because it falls more naturally around your neck, hand sewn edges make a polished finish and studs are the best accessory. (In my opinion) So here are my finished "good trials".

Regular crew neck t-shirt.

Collar necklace addition!

So what do you think? Zachariah thinks I should sell these dudes on etsy but do you think there would be any interest?

Apartamento!

2011-12-02T17:20:00.001-08:00

This is the apartment that Zachariah and I have been in for almost two years. And since none of Zachariah's family has visited us I figured that a peak here would be adequate...

The kitchen and the bathroom! Two separate rooms, obviously. I totally installed that hanging light in the kitchen and it is awesome. I need to get an ikea plug in one for the bedroom since we have no overhead light in there which is a pain. My kitchen is totally deficient of rad hand towels/tea towels. I have mad loves for ones on etsy. One day tea towels, one day...

Here is the livingroom slash office. It's multi-functional! Wee.

And here is our bedroom. Please note the difference in organization between Zachariah's and my dresser. I'm totally more organized. We also forgot to put a duvet cover on the comforter. Soon when I am feeling less lazy.

That's where we live! :) Now back to Christmas knitting...

Holiday changes

2011-12-02T17:04:00.001-08:00

Since it is officially December now, we put up some Christmas decorations and the tree. I never really get sick of instrumental Christmas music or the Charlie Brown Christmas soundtrack so that is what we listened to while we put it all together. Each year Zachariah and I try to get an ornament to add to the collection but we haven't found this years yet. And since it is the season for candy canes I have already started breaking into our stash. (Which will steadily increase as the month goes on since they are EVERYWHERE in grocery stores.)

And I finally cut my bangs because I am sick of them falling in my face. As far as doing them myself I think I did a half decent job. We replaced our crappy dull kid scissors with sharp good ones so those were way better to cut with. Kick ass!

I feel like my cheekbones are really extreme. They totally weird me out. SKULLS!

Back to normal I guess

2011-11-20T17:14:00.001-08:00

After driving Kevin back to the airport to leave for Colorado, things are about normal again here. It's sad but not as sad as before because now he is in the states again and close enough to call and text again unlike before when he was over seas.

I just finished cleaning the whole apartment and that's nice since it's been two weeks and I am a total neat freak about that sort of thing. I disinfect door knobs; you mad? It's been a slightly productive week for knitting, I started another sweater (another camilla since I love it so, but this time in linen!) and I had made a wood hollow hat for Kevin.

I got to wear a few of my knitted hats and sweaters because it is finally getting really cold here in Baltimore and also spent a lot of time sitting in the back seat of my car since Kevin wanted to sit in the front.

Ok, let's play catch-up!

2011-11-15T15:25:00.001-08:00

My brother Kevin is back in the states from Germany so he has been here since the 6th and will be here until the 20th. The first week we were busy and I had work and this week I have off so we can take care of important errands and spend time together. Zachariah also took this week off for 2x win-age. (It's also the first week off of work I have taken in about half a decade in all seriousness. WTF.) Anywho, here's some ultra quick stupid life updates!

Zachariah cut his monster beard off because it was getting unruly.

I got some new boots, and orange-red skinny cord jeans and purple nail polish. Yay for fun things, and a week of wearing actual clothes instead of scrubs!

I've been playing with my makeup options too and I am still a fan of dark or bright and vivid lipsticks and extreme cat eyes. This one I copied off of an image I saw. It was pretty neat and actually a lot more simple to do evenly then a cat eye. Maybe I just have weird eye lids.

Davey is still Davey and the holiday cups are at Starbucks but they are sort of stupid.

Shonen Knife yay!

2011-10-30T12:07:00.000-07:00

By the way, I saw Shonen Knife at the Ottobar recently; I never got to post about them but they are totally a new love of mine. They sing about the cutest random nonsense but are totally rad. Total love.

"Middle-school" Saturday before Halloween

2011-10-30T12:00:00.000-07:00

Normally the Saturday before Halloween seems to be "adult Halloween" in Baltimore but since this year I really couldn't get into the swing of it, (first year I really couldn't get a good costume idea) and Emily had a cold, we just low-keyed it. The term official coined for the day was "middle-school Halloween" since we didn't go out to parties. Instead we went shopping for stuffs because it's been a while. I got new boots, some shirts and nail polish that matt-finishes your nail color. It is completely kick ass. And since it was the Halloween weekend and completely ultra cold since snow was forecast, I let Emily borrow my panda hood and I wore my wolf ear hat. Apparently this was like the most amazing thing to everyone at the mall and Trader Joe's since literary everyone commented on how cute/neat/amazing our hats were. That's cool I guess, we were mostly trying to keep warm but we'll chock it up to "middle-school Halloween."

We got dessert with tea and coffee respectively, (I don't drink coffee) got some groceries to make a veggie pizza and then went back to the apartment to watch scary movies. Emily wanted red wine so I tried some new stuff too and the lady at the check out proceeded to first insult my taste for really sweet wine and alluded to the fact that she thought I was underage and then started talking about how fancy the wine I bought was. Whatever, crazy lady; you are all mixed up.

Saturday/Sunday quick recap

2011-10-23T21:04:00.000-07:00

I'm getting tired and I need to shower, read, and then sleep so I'm going to sum up this awesome weekend in a few concise points:
+ Saturday night Golden West friend date with Jenny and Jeff + delicious pumpkin curry soup
+ Sunday Larriland pumpkin and broccoli picking (because they ran out of apples) with April, Melodi, Don, Jim and Zachariah
+ Pumpkin carving with said friends on the deck
+ Delicious sweet potato fries, cold apple cider, pumpkin seeds, salad with fresh broccoli, ice cream and baked potatoes
+ Lost in Translation movie watching
- Need new mirror for apartment
- Twisted my ankle and it's still super sore
+ Finished flip over mittens for Dad
- Still need to write up pattern for Jenny and Ravelry usage
- Late night laundry doing because I forgot about it

*The Lich King is Zachariah's and the face is mine. (Please note that you can find the Lich king featured in the Cartoon Network show ADVENTURE TIME or via WOW and some D+D campaigns. Roll at your own risk.)

Baltimore Burger Bar Satur-date

2011-10-23T20:23:00.000-07:00

Before Zachariah went to band practice we went to the BBB or Baltimore Burger Bar in Hampden for lunch because it was newly open and we were hungry. (duh, haha!) So I got their veggie burger special called the "Linus" burger which had a veggie patty, brie, curried banana, old bay ricotta, svenska mustard, and some greens and the boy did a build a burger. It was really good and Zachariah enjoyed his too. In addition to yummy foods they also had some awesome tea blend juices and I got to drink them out of huge straws so that was a plus. All in all, a really good date!

Afterwards I had a pretty uneventful day of watching documentaries on bees, North Korea and the Swedish ballet/opera while I knit my dad's flip over mittens that I was supposed to finish a long time ago. I wrote the pattern myself so I will post it up on here and Ravelry soon since it's a simple and really practical knit. Last winter I wore mine everywhere.

*All in all a good Saturday; if anyone who reads this is a Ravelry user my account name is POWERPAW. Let's be friends!

**And if you like "post-hardcore" music here's Zachariah's band Tigerscout.

Creepin' on Zachariah

2011-10-15T20:09:00.000-07:00

Zachariah hates when I take pictures of him sleeping/waking up, but I will never stop because I'm a creep.

Haters gonna hate.

ETSY update

2011-10-09T22:10:00.000-07:00

I finally got around to updating my ETSY with stuff. I also put one of the mini apps on my side bar here on the website that shows some of the item listings currently in the shop. Horray! Along with that there has been a lot of laying around and general uselessness. I suppose it is to be expected what with the Oxycodone and jacked-up finger.

But the Dave and I have been having a good bit of quality cuddle time, so that's good too.

A knit-less Sunday

2011-10-09T16:17:00.000-07:00

So things are looking up, my finger hurts like the dickens but it is healing really nicely. And oh my gosh, I had totally forgotten how much tetanus shots make your arm hurt afterwards. GEEZ. The spot where they stuck me is crazy sore, not to mention it feels horrible to move my arm around but I am trying my best to keep it from getting stiff. The pain medications have been helpful with the downside-effect of making me super loopy so if this post seems weird, it's the drugs fault. HA!

But seriously, having your dominant arm+hand injured sure does make simple tasks a might bit more difficult than you would think. Sure makes you realize how much you take for granted to healthy working hands. So as a result, very little knitting has happens this weekend. I have been reduced to making simple friendship bracelets and other little sorted bracelet crafties. These sort of things are fun though and made me miss having pen-pals or knitting swap buddies because these are the sorts of things that you would send to one another in tandem with rad friend notes.

A rough day.

2011-10-08T14:34:00.000-07:00

So today I was supposed to have a dentist appointment at 1:30pm and I was supposed to see my dad afterwards and then Zachariah and I were supposed to visit with some friends. Here is how the day actually ended up happening:

So while searching for the camelback water bottle thing my dad lent us to give back to him I got snared by a hooked fishing rod that apparently was in our "sports storage" area. Who knew. I went into shock and Zachariah drove me to the hospital which, lucky for me, is also the national hand center facilities. Kick-ass. So in short, it was really painful, I grossed out a few patients in the waiting room, they took me back, gave me a tetanus shot, numbed my hands, took x-rays and then pried it out of my finger after giving me a bunch of antibiotics and painkillers. How's that for a run-on sentence! But on the bright side, Zachariah was helpful the whole time, the doctors, nurses and staff were all very friendly and kind and afterwards we got Indian food so I won't get sick from all the medication taken on a mostly empty stomach. What a Saturday.

On the positive side though, I did knit the sweater I am wearing in that photo and it totally impressed the doctor!

Secret triforce pattern pillow

2011-10-02T17:06:00.000-07:00

I finished the next decided pillow pattern design. I suppose once I have at least three total up and made I will start posting them on my etsy. I always feel uncomfortable and inept when I start trying to market things on there... I guess I will continue to just shoot in the dark about it all. I have a lot of shipping and policy stuff to update on there as well before I post anything.

So... What do you think?

Bike sweaters

2011-10-02T17:01:00.000-07:00

I just finished my second commissioned bike cozy/sweater thing. The first one was Zachariah's blue and blue striped one and the second was Holly's marigold, white and plum striped one. All in all things have worked out well. A few other people have suggested that I make them one too but it's harder to stay interested in something so shapeless and boring to knit so they will be done few and far between to keep me happy.

Back to Charm City

2011-09-28T18:37:00.000-07:00

I picked up Zachariah late on Monday night from the airport and because the flight had a delayed landing it threw off our plans for going to get dinner somewhere post-pick-ups. Since Baltimore doesn't really have any late night dinner spots despite being a city, we went to an old tried and true 24-hour diner called "Broadway Diner." We ate stupid amounts of french toast and potatoes; Zachariah got meat things because he eats meat. (I don't.) It was rather fitting to eat there since it was a restaurant we went one night with his parents and "took" a mug from since Zachariah just got back from putting his father's ashes to rest. We liked it.

Life continues on, Davey really likes the pillow I knit, and BONUS! My diploma finally came in the mail from UMBC. Now I just have to go and find the most obnoxious frame I can possibly find to put it up on the wall in.

A day of rest

2011-09-25T15:42:00.000-07:00

It's been that kind of day if you know what I mean... Inside, phone on vibrate, hanging out with the Davey and just being very still. (sort of.) Weekends are important to recuperate but this weekend is especially quiet. Zachariah is gone to Idaho to visit with his two bothers and mom to scatter his father's ashes. It's been a year now since his death and so I am doing my best to allow him uninterrupted time with his family while he is away. The silence just seems to be a bit more solemn with the knowledge of why he is off visiting family. But it is all just a natural part of the progression of life and so things continue with that pattern of balance. Although it's a sad reason for gathering, it's nice that he gets to spend time with his family just the same.

Davey is enjoying the pillow and I am floating between watching season 1 of "Mad Men" on Netflicks and listening to Slayer while conceptualizing pattern ideas. At least I have orange popsicles and cookies to munch on. I'm saving the sparkling juice I got for when Zachariah gets home because he likes it so much. I was going to go grocery shopping today, but I just really don't feel like driving any where today. Ah well, I got dressed for walking Davey then I guess.

Deathly Hallows!

2011-09-25T12:45:00.000-07:00

Sometimes weekends don't go as planned, and so sometimes you make the best of things! Emily and I went and consummated our friendship and Harry Potter obsession with ink. Totally happy, totally worth it.

Pillow Talk

2011-09-25T12:39:00.001-07:00

Recently I have been thinking about updating my Etsy store with something a little different from the knitting that I have been putting up there. I have become quite obsessed with two-tone color scheme patterns on textiles, especially accent pieces like throw pillows and rugs and such. Reason probably being because I rent my apartment and therefore we do not paint the walls, so there is a lot of off-white-paint-primer on the walls. Zach and I also being still fighting to achieve our career jobs and schooling have a random assortment of furniture so little things are key to bring interest and that "this is where I live" sort of feel. (for lack of a better words to describe I suppose.) Anyway, so I started sketching up patterns inspired by cross-stitching and embroidery for throw pillows and I just finished my first one!

I will most likely be keeping this one because it's a 20x20 inch pillow and I used some of my coveted ceramic skull buttons for the back. Although some of the pillow will be this big, I think I will stick to a 16x16 and 12x12 inch square since it's a more practical size? I'm not sure yet.

Sick Day, but not in the cool way

2011-09-20T16:02:00.000-07:00

Today has been a at-home-sick day. Went home early from work yesterday, vomited a whole lot and then continued to be sick through out the night. Kick butts! Sike. But now it is the late afternoon and I have managed to pull myself out of bed, get dressed, walk Davey and stomach some tea and a banana. So far so good I think.

I've spent most of the time I have been awake today reading these guys. I am so excited that the Sailormoon and Sailor V mangas are being re-released in a more true translation format to the originals. These are so much better too because they include art book photos in the first pages of the mangas. I'm so excited! Zachariah says he might read them too. The next issues for both series are expected on November 15; I can't wait!

Baltimore Zoo and Conservatory Trip

2011-09-20T15:10:00.000-07:00

On Sunday Zachariah and I planned to go to the Baltimore Zoo and Conservatory since we have a membership and we live so close and have never seen the inside of the conservatory. The weather was awesome and we drove through parts of the park we had never ventured through before. I have to say, it's a bigger park then I thought! I normally only venture around the lake to run with Jenny. There was a 20 20 Bike shop sponsored race going on while we drove through; it was a pretty neat sight.

The animals were all out and about doing things, except for the lions which were being jerks hiding way out of photo range. Figures. The crocodiles were the most active I have ever seen though. Once we got up to the exhibit they got off the land rocks and swam over to the glass where we were and kept wiggling around. Creeps.

And the earthquake/hurricane ruined the shaky fun crossing bridge in the kid's section which kind of really sucks.. But at least the big tree with the kids slide was A-OK for the multitude of kids that were running around that day.

The botanical gardens were really neat. It's all donation accessible so we threw our cash in and wandered around the area. It contains four viewing rooms and is small but nice, a very calming space with awesome plants and waterfall pools. There was also an outside garden area that we checked out after they closed. I'm totally going back there and getting a Rosemary plant next time.

New blog

2011-08-03T20:40:00.001-07:00

New blog for life loggings. Graduated from undergraduate college and now I am just floating around in the in between. Unrolled my next life choice move anyway. Things are mostly good so I am going to try and focus on those things.